Hidden Abilities
by shamrock019
Summary: After wages have been cut at the shop, Jay finds another job to help support himself. Jay finds himself with a job, not many would think Jay Hogart would do. What happens when he keeps his new job a secret from Manny until the time is right?
1. Chapter 1

Hidden Abilities

After wages have been cut at the shop, Jay finds another job to help support himself. Jay finds himself with a job, not many would think Jay Hogart would do. What happens when he keeps this job a secret from Manny until the time is right?

Chapter 1

"Hey Jay! Could you come here for a sec? I have some business I need to talk to you about," Tony, the owner of the car shop and Jay's boss, yelled across the garage.

"Yeah, just give me one minute," Jay replied, pushing himself out from underneath the car he had been working on. "Hey Tony, I know I was a little late on fixing the bumper on that beamer, but I can explain, " Jay explained as he walked into Tony's office.

"Jay, it is fine that's not what I want to talk to you about. Sit down for a minute."

"You're not firing me are you sir, I mean I am your best mechanic," an anxious Jay questioned.

"No Jay I am not firing you, just give me a minute to explain. With business slowing down this year, I am having to make some cuts and by cuts I don't mean by lay offs, I mean wage cuts. I am going to have to cut twenty percent of your wage," Tony explained.

"Tony, seriously I mean, why not Eric's wage, I fix all of the major problems that come in. I know my stuff!" Jay stated, starting to get a little heated.

"You're not the only one affected Jay, everyone is. I know that this is hard to take especially since you are my best employee, but I do have another job for you and it isn't at my office."

"Really where? But first what is it?"

"Talk to Mr. Collins, the guy with the beamer, and he will get you that job I was talking about. I hear it pays well too." Tony replied.

"I'll talk to him, but only cause I need the money," Jay said trying not to act to desperate. After all, he had rent to pay, groceries to buy, and not mention dates with Manny, life isn't cheap.

"Ok, good. And again I am sorry for the bad news, but at least this way I can keep the shop open," Tony said as Jay turned to leave his office.

Jay walked out of Tony's office and returned to the garage to find a young boy running around the garage with a football in his arms. "Hey! Throw long!" Jay shouted to the kid. The ball came whirling into Jay's arms. "Nice throw, little man!" Jay complemented.

"Thanks. My dad taught me," the young boy responded.

"Cool. My name is Jay. What's yours?"

"I'm Garrett."

"Is your mom or dad here picking up a car?"

"Yeah, my dad is. He's outside."

"Alright, well let's go find your dad."

Jay and Garrett walked outside and then Jay spotted a man in a business suit standing in the parking lot as if he was looking for something. "Is that him?" Jay asked.

"Yup." Garrett said as he ran over to his dad.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" Jay questioned.

"Uh, yes I am here to pick up my car. The black beamer," the man replied.

"Oh right. Follow me sir." Jay said walking out of the garage. "I apologize for the delay, I was having some trouble with another car when yours came in, so I had to finish the other car first, but I assure you, yours is restored and is as good as new."

"Oh it's quite alright." The man responded as he walked around the back of the car to inspect the bumper. "It looks great, umm, sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Jason Hogart," Jay replied extending his arm to shake the man's hand.

"Jeff Collins," the man responded. "Jason, excellent job. By the way, Tony also mentioned you were in the market of looking for a second job? He said you were his best employee."

"Yes."

"Well, I am not sure if this is your thing, but I assure you I pay well. I see you met my son Garrett, but I also have a daughter named Emma. My wife and I recently bought some tickets to attend this weekly seminar in which politicians, doctors, university professors etc. come give speeches. Anyway, I am in the market for a baby sitter, are you interested?"

"Well," Jay hesitated, but then thought _How bad can it be? Too little kids, for a few hours, no big deal._ "Sure, what days?"

"Fridays. If you could come over around 5:00 in the evening? Here is my address. And congrats you start this Friday."

"Wow, thanks Mr. Collins," Jay responded as if he was unsure of what just occurred.

"No problem. See you this Friday."

"Yes sir, bye Mr. Collins and Garrett see you Friday."

"Bye Jay!" Garrett replied as he jumped into his dad's car.

* * * * *

When work finally came to an end, Jay quickly pulled out his phone to call one person.

"Hello?" a voice said over the phone.

"Hey Dimples, how are you?" Jay asked.

"Hey, pretty good. School was the same ol' same ol', nothing new. What about you?" Manny asked.

"Actually something big happened today, but I need to tell you in person. Wanna meet at the Dot in half an hour?"

"Whoa, it must be good, if you can't tell me now." Manny teased. "But yeah, see you at the Dot in thirty minutes."

"Ok, love you, bye." Jay stated

"Love you." Manny replied.

_Click._

Jay put his phone away and went into the bathroom to change into some jeans and a clean shirt before he headed off to the Dot. Once he reached the Dot, he saw Manny sitting at one of the booths towards the back. It looked like she was studying pretty hard because the table was covered with papers and books. "Hey babe." Jay said as he approached the table.

"Hey."

Jay leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "How's the studying going?"

"Eh, alright I guess. Why do teachers always have to give us multiple tests on the same day?"

"Just to make life miserable." Jay replied.

"I guess. Anyway, so, what's the big news?" Manny said excited to hear what Jay had mentioned on the phone.

"Well first it comes with some bad news, but don't worry cause the good news will follow."

"Ok I am listening."

"Well Tony has been having to make some cut backs at the shop and..."

"Jay you didn't get fired did you?"

"No, no, no just let me finish. So he had to cut back my wage a little, twenty percent, but I found another job that will make up for it." Jay said.

"Ok and that job is..."

"I can't tell you yet, but I do know it pays good and its once a week."

"Jay, your not doing something stupid like," Manny lowered her voice, "dealing drugs or stealing?"

"No! How could you even..."

"Ok good, I mean Jay you have been great around me, but you have to admit you have a history and I care about you, a lot, I just want to make sure."

"No, I swear, nothing illegal, boo. I will tell you, I just want to go this first time and see what it is like and then I will tell you about it. Maybe you could even come and help out?"

"Help out? At your job? I don't know Jay. This job is sounding even more strange to me."

"I swear you'd approve. It's just that, most people would never even consider me doing this type of job, to say the least."

"Ok I will take your word for it. When do you start?"

"This Friday at 5:00. I know we usually do something on Fridays, but we will have Saturday."

"Alright, congrats on your _mystery_ job. It's 9:30 I should probably be heading home." Manny said glancing at her phone for a time.

"I will give you a ride."

"Thanks."

Jay helped Manny pack up all of her homework and then both of them headed out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi and thanks for reading this! I didn't introduce myself before, but I have been reading Fanfiction for awhile now and finally decided to post since there are not a lot of Jay and Manny stories. This chapter is setting up the main plot of the story, but I promise more Jay and Manny stuff coming your way. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

It was 4:30 on Friday and Jay had just gotten into his car to drive to his new job. He was feeling a bit anxious and a little unsure of what might happen, but he thought _I am Jason Hogart, I can handle a couple of sticky handed kids for a few hours._ He followed the directions Mr. Collins had given him when he suddenly pulled into their neighborhood. He realized then this was not going to be some ordinary babysitting job.

The Collins' lived in a gated community, which Jay had to tell the security guard his name and show ID before he was allowed in. The houses where huge! Gorgeous multi-million dollar mansions with luxury cars parked in the circular drives.

"1905, 1907, and 1909. Here we are," Jay said aloud as he found the Collins' house. He walked up to the front door, took a deep breath, and rang the door bell.

"Hello, Jason right on time," Mr. Collins said as he answered the door.

"Yes sir, how are you?" Jay asked.

"I am fine. You remember Garrett right?" Mr. Collins said as Garrett came running down from the staircase.

"Yeah, hey Garrett what's up buddy?" Jay said giving Garrett a fist bump.

"Not much," Garrett answered. "We should throw the football while you are here. I can throw a spiral now!"

"Awesome. Yeah maybe we can in a little bit, ok?"

"Ok."

"Well Jay, follow me," Mr. Collins said. All of a sudden the sound of dog tags and clicking nails began to ring through the house. "Oh these are our two dogs, Molly is the yellow Labrador and Tag is the golden retriever. They are really friendly, it's just that they get really excited when they see people."

"I can tell!" Jay said as the two dogs ran to greet him full of wags and licks.

"Just keep walking, they will slowly start to leave you alone. Here is our kitchen and this is my wife Amy and my daughter Emma."

"Hello Mrs. Collins it's nice to meet you," Jay said shaking Amy's hand.

"Nice to meet you too. Well I just finished cooking dinner for the kids and put it in the refrigerator, so around 6:00 just pull it out and heat it up in the microwave."

"Ok."

"And bedtime for them is 8:00 for Emma and 8:30 for Garrett. And they can have a small sweet snack before they go to bed if they would like. Also make sure they brush their teeth before they go to bed. Garrett might try to get out of it, but just make sure he does anyway. And Emma might need a little bit of help."

"Ok no problem."

"And feel free to watch TV or pop in a DVD after they go to bed. We will probably be home between 10:00 and 11:00," Amy further explained.

"Ok great," Jay answered.

"Well Amy you ready?" Jeff Collins asked his wife.

"Yes just let me say good bye to the kids," Amy replied. She said good-bye to each of them and thanked Jay for his help and then she and her husband headed out for the evening.

"Alright kids, what do you want to do?" Jay asked.

"I want to throw the football," Garrett stated.

"I want to play with my dollies," Emma said.

"Ok how about, I throw the football with Garrett first and then we eat and then after I will play dolls with you Emma?" Jay proposed.

"Ok," both of the kids said in unison.

* * * * *

Jay collapsed on the couch after he finally got Garrett to bed. He threw the football with Garrett until Tag stole the ball and ran around the backyard with it begging them to chase him. (Jay realized that's how the dog got his name.) Emma was with them in the backyard too. She sat in the kid's version of a patio set playing tea part with her dolls, stuffed animals, and even Molly sat next to the table as if she was a guest.

At 6:00 Jay brought the kids inside and fed them dinner. Then they relaxed and watched some cartoons. Finally it was time for the kids to get ready for bed. Garrett did put up a slight fight about brushing his teeth, but then complied. Emma needed some help brushing her teeth just as her mom had predicted. Once the teeth brushing was done, each of the kids changed into their pajamas and waited for their bedtime story.

The bedtime story didn't really turn into a story; it was more of a Q & A session with all questions directed at Jay.

Both of the kids sat in Emma's room on what Emma had informed Jay as her "new big girl bed" and Jay sat in a chair next to the bed.

"Jay how old are you?" Garrett asked, starting off the questioning.

"I am 20." Jay replied.

"That's getting old," Garrett said.

"Thanks Garrett," Jay said sarcastically.

"Your welcome," Garrett chuckled. "Do you go to school?"

"No, not anymore. I work at the mechanic shop where your dad's car got fixed."

"Oh," Garrett said. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes," Jay replied, laughing from the way Garrett asked the question.

"Well, what is her name?"

"Manny."

"Oh, does she go to school?"

"Yes, she wants to be an actress like for movies."

"Like a movie star!" Emma shouted.

"Exactly," Jay replied.

"Is she nice?" Garrett questioned.

"She's really nice. You know actually, I bet she would like to meet you too," Jay said.

"Yeah, you should bring her next time," Garrett stated excitedly.

"I can play dolls with her," Emma said.

"Yeah Emma. Actually that could work out great. I will ask your parents if it is ok, alright?"

"Ok!" Emma and Garrett said together.

After the Q & A session Jay managed to get both of the kids into their rooms and off to bed. Then he went down stairs exhausted, he collapsed on the couch and watched TV until the Collins came home. Babysitting was a lot more work than he thought.


End file.
